Speed governor for hydraulic drives



June 11, 1935.

E. 5. SMITH, JR 2 ,004,638

SPEED GOVERNOR FOR HYDRAULIC DRIVES Filed Dec. 22, 1931 10 the driving means for the member so that if the I p ab y C e a Sellree f difierential D falling oir of load then automatically shutting ant speed by m a s of a difierential p s- 15 particularly adapted for use i machine tools A further feature of my invention resides in 25 Patented June 11, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SPEED GOVERNOR FOR HYDRAULIC DRIVES Ed s. Smith, Jr., Providence, R. 1., assignor to Builders Iron Foundry, Providence, R. L, a corporation of Rhode- Island Application December 22, 1931, Serial No. 582,576

4 Claims. (60-52) My invention relates to an apparatus for conin which the speed of the fluid is affected by trolling the movement of a movable member any variations in the movement of said member particularly adapted for use in machine tools and controlling the speed of fluid flow and hence having-a reciprocatable member. movable member movement by automatically 5 An object of my invention is to maintain a bypassing from said main flow stream the excess 5 constant movement of a movable driven memof the amount of fluid necessary to conti u y her at whatever value is desired, maintain a constant movement of the movable n object of my invention consists in co member regardless of said other influences. trolling by the movement of the member alone While this may be done in any suitable manner speed of the movable member should fall on sur in an auxi a y fl w s am v n in slightly the speed of the driving means would be response to Said movable member and I auteincreased and similarly if the movement of the matic c ol t a nt o exc s fl d movable member should increase slightly on the ypassed to keep the movable member at a condown the speed of the driving means to mainsure producedtain the speed uniform. As stated hith t my Other features of my invention relate to variinvention is particularly adapted for us i ous details of construction for various manners chines having a reciprocatable member having of controlling the Speed Of fl W the p d 20 a driving means therefor. My inve ti i of the driving means and particularly in a fluid 20 eludes flowing a fluid in response t th m v.. system to provide a means which in addition will ment of the movable member for controlling the Partially Step the movable member and at the driving means for the movable member by Same time l Prevent an ingress of air nto variations of said fluid flow. My invention is the fluid Operating Systemor otherwise where fluid pressure actuated one d ment thereof of the novel typ of means are employed to drive th ov b1 justable Venturi meter tube which may be ember. The flow of fluid through the fluid prespl yed as an adjusta l v lv a set f r ny sure actuating means itself or through an auxrate of flew desired and Which l p a n iliary stream is made to correspond to the Opposite directiehs- 30 movement of the member or table and the move- A great difliculty has been experienced in ment of the fluid in the auxiliary stream or grinding machines and other types of machine in the fluid pressure actuating means itself aut0 tools in having a variable table speed. Employmatically controls the speed of fluid flow itself ing my invention, however, which Operates With in the main flow stre so as t maintain a extreme reliability and certainty, the table is 35 stantially even speed of the movable member, fed at Substantially Constant p e a v s an thus where employed on a machine tool having excellent finish to the worka reciprocating work holding member if for any These d such other objects of my invention reason the table speed would fall ofi slightly as may hereinafter appear W be est der- 40 due to other influences, such as tool resistance stood m a description of the mpa yin 40 or otherwise, more fluid would be fed t t drawing which illustrates various embodiments fluid pressure actuating or reciprocating means thereon or moving means for the table and similarly if In the drawing, 1 is a a t c View the table speed should increase slightly upon a, Partially wn in Section o a ac ine tool havfalling off of the load or resistance to the tool ing a reciprocating mb an driving means after taking a heavy cut or by passing by th therefor constructed in accordance with my inwork the speed of the table immediately brings vention. about additional throttling of the flow. Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken through the im- A further feature of my invention consists of proved type o reversible VentllI'i-SheDed p u the improved apparatus I employ for controlling differential producing valve I preferably employ.

the movement of a movable member subject to In the drawing, wherein like characters of refother influences afiecting its movement, which erence indicate like parts throughout, iii generalcomprises setting up a fluid flow in the driving 1y indicates a. machine tool constructed in acmeans for the member in excess of the amount cordance with my invention. Said machine tool necessary to give it its desired movement and includes the usual movable member i2, which in this instance comprises a reciprocatable table [2 adapted to hold the work and adapted to function in association with the rotatable grinding wheel I4 on said work. In the embodiment shown the driving means for the reciprocatable member I2 comprises a fluid pressure actuated system, in which the direction of movement of the table is automatically controlled by the fluid pressure aotuating valve I6. Said valve I6 comprises the usual two pistons I8 mounted on a valve piston rod 28 in turn controlled by an oscillating lever 22 actuated by the table dogs 24 to move the pistons I8 alternately first to the right and then to the left in a reciprocating valve cylinder 26 which has the usual inlet pipe 28 entering therein substantially centrally thereof and the usual outlet pipes '38 discharging from opposite ends thereof and into the outlet pipe 32. The pipes 34 connect opposite ends of the valve cylinder 26 with the fluid pressure actuating cylinder 36, in which reciprocates a piston 38 connected in a suitable manner such as by the piston rods 40 with the reciprocating table I2. Thefluid pressure actuating reciprocating means thus includes the cylinders 26 and 36 with their interconnecting parts. Inasmuch as the usual load and flre mechanism operated by dogs 24 and oscillating trip lever 22 is already readily available to engineers, it is deemed unnecessary and undesirable to show and/or describe them in detail; for to do so would tend to obscure rather than clarify a disclosure of the salient characteristics. For the benefit of those not versed in the art, however, reference is made to British Patent No. 297,104, or its corresponding U. S. Patent 1,838,028, which very fully shows valve and trip means such as are herein indicated diagrammatically by parts I6, 22 and 24 as well as other details of a complete machine. I provide an inlet pipe 28 leading to said recipcating means from a source of fluid such as the reservoir 42. and I provide the common discharge pipe 32 leading from said reciprocating means to said reservoir, thus as shown in Fig. l the whole fluid system including the aforementioned cylinders comprises the driving means for the reciprocating table I2. It is apparent that the flow of fluid through said system will vary particularly in the inlet portion thereof in response to other influences such as tool resistances, inequality of work etc. which aifects the movement of the table. Fluid therefore is flowed through the system in proportion to the movement of the movable member. I provide means such as the adjustable reversible valve 44' shown in Fig. l for for setting up an adjustable pressure differential in an auxiliary flow stream 46 as shown in Fig. l which contains a fluid movable in response to the table movement and hence subject to the same variation. I control by said differential the flow through the main flow stream by a controller valve 48' in a bypass line 58 connected to said main flow stream as shown in Fig. 1. It is obvious that the rate of flow through the inlet pipe -28 is controlled inversely in proportion to the changes in the table speed and a bypass flow is controlled directly in proportion thereto, in .other words the pressure controls the valve directly in proportion to variations in the fluid flow affected. The means automatically controlled by said pressure differential for varying the movement ,of said driving means and hence movable member includes not only the controller valve 48', but the diaphragm 52 antuated in response to changes in the differential. I provide means such as the pump 54 to pump fluid from said fluid reservoir 42 through the inlet pipe 28 and the pump functions in such a manner to supply through the line 28 an amount in excess of the amount of fluid desired for moving the movable member I2 and in my invention the amount of fluid not needed to move the member I2 at the desired speed in response to variations in the movement of the member is bypassed through the bypass line 58. The pump 54 may be provided with the change speed gearing 56 in case large changes are made in the character of the work. As shown in Fig. 1 the bypass line 58' is provided with a pressure relief valve 68 which may be set say at, any desired maximum say 100 lbs. and which will automatically open the pressure relief valve 68 comprising a usual diaphragm 62 and spring 64 which will normally permit the flow of fluid around the solid center portion thereof and which when the pressure is increased more than the set maximum will permit the spring 64 to compress and periodically or otherwise bypass any excess of fluid through the bypass line 58'. The controller valve 48' may have the valve head 63 conveniently mounted on a piston rod 65 and the diaphragm 52 oscillating in the chamber 68 is also attached to said rod 65. An adjustable spring III normally urges said piston rod 65 and hence valve head. 63 towards the valve seat 6| to close the valve. The opposite end of said piston rod 65 is provided with a piston I6 working in a dashpot 14, having an open outer end forming a valve seat 15, in

which the throttling piston I6 reciprocates with variations in the differential pressure across diaphragm 52. The valve head 11 is provided with means to adjust the amount of opening in the throttling valve seat such as the hand wheel operated throttling means I8 adjustable from without and it is obvious that by varying the opening of the throttling valve from the dash pot 14 that the throttling valve will O pose the spring 10 so as to throttle down any violent movement of the diaphragm 52. The controller valve 63 and piston rod 65 operate within chamber 18. Diaphragm 52 is within chamber 68 to which pressure pipes H6 and I I8 are operatively attached. Diaphragm 52 is connected to valve 63 by piston rod 65. It is thus apparent that the pressure differential producing valve 44' may be adjusted for any set desired speed of table reciprocation and that it will automatically create a pressure differential between the high pressure side of said diaphragm 52 and the low pressure side and that the differential produced will vary in proportion to the corresponding rates of flows through the pipes 28 and I04. If the speed of the table I2 should fall therefore, a smaller differential will be set up between the high and low pressure sides of the valve 44' thereby permitting the spring 10 to close the valve 48' so as to feed more fluid through the inlet pipe 28 and similar-.

1y as the table speed increases, such 'as by falling off of the load, then the pressure differential will increase to operate to move the diaphragm 52 to open the controller valve 48 to permitthe 'flow of less fluid through the inlet line 28. As

stated an excess of fluid flow rate is set up by the pump 54 .over that necessary to maintain the desired speed of the table. There is substantially constantly at intermittent intervals an amount of fluid bypassed through the line 50 in excess of the amount required to drive the table so that regardless of any changes in the table speed the pressure will be maintained at the high pressure side of the pump. It is obvious that as the controller valve 48' closes the'fluid under pressure will build up until the fluid flows through the inlet pipe at a rate to again bring the table up to the desired speed and correspondingly as the controller valve 48' is open fluid pressure is lowered.

I also preferably provide manually operated means to stop the movable member and hence table at any desired position. To this end I provide the bypass line 86 connected to the inlet 28 preferably discharging into the fluid reservoir 42. Said bypass line is provided with the manually operated bypass valve 88. I also provide in said line 86 the pressure relief valve 90 comprising a usual spring actuated diaphragm valve but in which the valve head 92 is adapted to completely shut off the bypass line. A similar type of pressure relief valve 94 is provided in the outlet line i 32. The pressure relief valve 90 in the bypass 86 is set at a. relatively slight pressure such as two lbs. to prevent ingress of air into the system. The pressure relief valve 94 in the outlet line is also for a similar purpose, but this is set at a relatively higher pressure than the pressure relief valve 80, such as 4 lbs., and as the pressure in the valve 90 bypassed from the inlet is always less than the pressure from the valve 94 in the outlet, it is obvious that there will be no pressure to move the table and thus there is no possibility of a. flow through the system when the manuallyoperated bypass valve is opened. The controller valve 48' is provided with the dash pot 14 so that there will be no danger of hunting back and forth. Due to the pressure relief valves 90 and 94 there is also no possibility of getting any air in the system. It is obvious therefore that in Fig. 1 the fluid system itself includes the inlet pipe 28, the outlet pipe 32 and their attached parts, the bypass line 86 and the reciprocating valve and motor cylinders 26 and 36. When it is desired to stop the table it is obvious that merely openingthe bypass valve 88 will immediately shut off all operating fluid pressure in the system thereby providing a positive stop .of the table, but due to the pressure relief valves 90 and 94 there will be no ingress of air in the fluid system itself.

As shown in Fig. 1 a flow of fluid is created in response to the movement of the table I2 in an auxiliary flow system which in turn controls the speed of a separate driving means for the table and the speed of fluid flow which controls the driving means which is not of itself that fluid which moves the table. It is obvious that in place of fluid pressure actuating driving means for reciprocating the table any other type of driving means may be employed. I provide an auxiliary fluid pressure system gimprising a cylinder I having a. piston I02 reciprocated therein and connected to the table l2 to be reciprocated in correspondence to the movements thereof through the brackets I03 connected to opposite ends of said table. It is obvious that with the changes of movement of the table l2 fluid will flow alternately from one end to the other of said cylinder I00 through the connecting pipes of the auxiliary system 46 including the adjustable pressure differential producing valve 44' therein. The pressure diflerential produced in the auxiliary flow system 46 automatically controls the controller valve 46' located in the bypass line 50 from the inlet line 28 for the main flow'stream of the fluid system for driving the table. The controller valve 48' is so constructed that when too high a rate exists, valve 48' opens somewhat. The differential pressure is created in the auxiliary fluid system 46 and the adjustable pressure differential producing means comprises a novel type of modifled Venturi meter shown in section in Fig. 2 which is so constructed as to produce an equal amount of pressure differential on the flow through the auxiliary flow system in either direction. This valve comprises a fixed hemi-Venturl tube I06 and a. relatively movable hemi- Venturi tube I08 adjustable relative thereto. This valve 44' is interposed in the pipe I04 and is obvious that the adjustable hemi-Venturi tube I08 forms a valve head therefor. The movement of the adjustable hemi-Venturi tube I08 is controlled by the medium of the adjustable stem I I0 provided with the usual hand wheel II2 adjustable in position from without. The adjustable hemi-Venturi tube I08 is mounted in the enlarged chamber II4 opposite the fixed hemi-Venturi meter tube I06 and the ends of the adjustable hemi-Venturi tube are spaced from each end of the chamber II4 so that pressure is led from either end of the Venturi tube and out through the pipes II6 to the high pressure side of the diaphragm 52. The pipe I I8 connects the throat of the fixed hemi-Venturi meter tube to the low pressure side of the diaphragm 52. The'sides of both the fixed and movable hemi-Venturi tubes converging and diverging respectively from the throat I01 are both of an equal length and equally angularly converging or diverging in either direction so that an equal pressure diflerential will be produced regardless of the direction of the flow through the valve 44' in the pipe I04. In this instance the pressure relief valve 60 is interposed in the separate bypass line 50' connected to the inlet 28 or may be in the same bypass line 86 as the manually operated bypass valve 88. The adjustable pressure differential producing valve 44' is set so as to control the speed of fluid through the inlet pipe 28 at the desired speed by adjusting the movable hemi-Venturi tube rela tive to the fixed hemi-Venturi tube. It is thus obvious that fluid will move through the auxiliary fluid system 46 in response to changes in the speed or the movement of the table I2 and that a pressure differential will be set up by said pressure differential producing valve 44' by the movement of the fluid through said auxiliary system in either direction proportionate to the square of the speed of reciprocating movement of said table I2 and it is obvious that the pressure difierential set up will instantly vary in response to changes in the speed of the table. As the pressure difierential produced by said pressure differential producing valve 44 varies-in response to the changes of speed of fluid through the auxiliary fluid system 46 in response to changes in movement of the movable table, it is obvious that the pressure will afiect the movement of diaphragm 52 to open the controllervalve 48 directly in response to changes in said pressure difierential. It will affect the opening of said valve 48' to bypass the excess of fluid received through the line 50 to maintain a correct amount of fluid flow through the inlet line 28 of the reciprocating valve and motor cylinders 26 and 36 respectively 50 that the movement of the driving means that depends on the rate of flow of fluid through the main fluid system, will vary in response to changes of the speed of the table. Thus when the table slows down for any reason diaphragm 52 will close valve 48' so that there will be less fluid bypassed through the valve 48' and more fluid passed through the inlet line 28 to bring the speed up to the desired amount, and conversely as the table increases in speed will the flow of fluid through the inlet pipe 28 be desystem and an amount of fluid is substantially continuously bypassed through the bypass line 50 to keep the flow of fluid through the main fluid system and inlet pipe 28 thereof correct to maintain the desired speed of movement-of the movable member l2. It is obvious that employing my invention I have provided an apparatus, for controlling the speed of a member which automatically functions to maintain it at a relatively constant speed with the desired evenness of finish etc. in the work.

It is understood that my invention is not limited to the specific embodiment shown and that various deviations may be made therefrom without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a machine, a movable member subject to other influences afiecting its movement, a fluid system for driving said members, means to supply fluid to said fluid system in excess of the amount necessary to give it the desired movement, an auxiliary flow stream responsive in its movement to the movement of the movable member, means to set up a differential pressure in said auxiliary flow stream, a bypass line in said main fluid system, a controller valve in said bypass line, and means actuated by said differential produced by said auxiliary flow stream operative to control said controller valve in said bypass line to automatically bypass from the main flow of fluid in said system an excess of the amount of fluid necessary to continuously maintain a substantially constant movement of the movable member regardless of said other influences.

2. In a machine, a movable member subject to other influences affecting its movement, a fluid system for driving said member, means to supply fluid to said fluid system in excess of the amount necessary to give it the desired movement, an auxiliary flow stream responsive in its movement to the movement of the movable member, a bypass line in said main fluid system, a controller valve in said bypass line, and means actuated by said auxiliary flow stream operative to control said controller valve in said bypass line to automatically bypass from the main flow of fluid in said system an excess of the amount of fluid necessary to continuously maintain a substantially constant movement of the movable member regardless of-said other influences.

3. In a machine tool, a reciprocatable member subject to other influences affecting its movement, fluid pressure means for reciprocating said member, an inlet line connecting said means with v a fluid reservoir, an outlet line discharging from said fluid pressure reciprocating means into said fluid reservoir, a pump in said inlet line adapted to feed fluid to said fluid pressure reciprocating means in excess of the amount necessary to move the reciprocatable member at the desired speed, a closed fluid system containing fluid movable in opposite directions in response to the movement of the reciprocating member due to said other influences, an adjustable pressure diflerential producing valve comprising an adjustable Venturi tube in said closed system, a bypass line leading from said inlet line having a controller valve therein and means operable by the diflerential pressure produced by said pressure differential producing means in said closed system to move said controller valve to bypass from said main inlet line to said fluid reciprocating means varying amounts of fluid therefrom in response to changes in said pressure differential to vary the speed of flow of fluid of the reciprocating means in response to changes in the speed of fluid in said closed system in response to changes in the speed of the reciprocating member to maintain a substantially constant speed of the reciprocating member.

4. In a machine tool, a reciprocatable member subject to other influences affecting its movement, fluid pressure means for reciprocating said member, an inlet line connecting said means with a fluid reservoir, an outlet line discharging from said fluid pressure reciprocating means into said fluid reservoir, 2. pump in said inlet line adapted to feed fluid to said fluid pressure reciprocating means in excess of the amount necessary to move the reciprocatable member at the desired speed, a closed fluid system containing fluid movable in opposite directions in response to the movement of the reciprocating member due. to said other influences, an adjustable pressure dificrential producing valve in said closed system, a bypass line leading from said inlet line having a controller valve therein and means operable by the diflerential pressure produced by said pressure differential producing means in said closed system to move said controller valve to bypass irom said main inlet line to said fluid reciprocating mans varying amounts of fluid therefrom in response to changes in said pressure difierential to vary the speed of flow of fluid of the fluid reciprocating means in response to changes in the speed of fluid in said closed system in response to changes in the speed ber to maintain a substantially constant speed of the reciprocating member.

ED S. SMITH, JR.

of the reciprocating mem 

